Svalbard
by systematic-alchemy
Summary: Clarke, Murphy, Octavia, Lincoln, and Bellamy go on a perilous journey. Their first destination is Svalbard Global Seed Vault, their second, someplace they can settle down and grow their own food.
1. Chapter 1

Clarke snuck out of the troop on its way back to camp. She waited until she couldn't hear them to double back to where they'd left Murphy. He was still there, standing under a tree, fingers caressing his neck. When she stepped into the moonlight, he snorted.

"What the fuck do you want?"

"I wasn't wrong that there have to be rules. And I stopped Bellamy from killing you the only way I knew how. But if I banish you for real, you'll be susceptible to the grounders. I can't have that." Clarke stepped under the tree, showing him that she didn't fear him, knowing that he could easily throw her off the cliff Charlotte leapt. "I have someplace you can stay. You're about to spend a lot of time there alone, and isolation does terrible things to the mind. But it's more comfortable than camp or the ground. I'll even spend time with you whenever I can, help stave off the isolation crazies. Please come with me… John."

"I didn't think you knew my first name." Murphy threw out his arms. "So where is this isolated paradise?"

"This way." She walked off toward the art supply store. She didn't make conversation, so it was Murphy that broke the silence.

"Why do you care what happens to me? I thought I was a monster."

"Everyone deserves a second chance. And if the grounders get you, that's on my head. I swore to do no harm. I'm making sure I keep that oath. It isn't much farther." Clarke stopped and turned to him. "Let's be clear, I'm doing this on the promise that you keep away from camp and don't tell anyone you may run into in the forest that I'm helping you. And you bring no one to where I'm taking you. That remains a secret only three people will know. You, me, and Finn, but I'll keep him away. I know how you feel about him."

"Agreed, but can we get there so I can stop my nosebleed?"

Clarke bent down and pulled the hatch open. "It's here."

Murphy went down first. It was pitch down here, but Clarke lit a lantern appearing out of nowhere. "Christ!"

"Sorry. But let me take a look at you." She took him by the wrist and guided him to the couch. "Let me get the first aid kit that's down here."

He watched as she found a large box with a big red plus sign on it. "That stuff's been down here for a century. You sure it won't kill me?"

"I'm positive." Supplies on the table, she knelt in front of him. With gentle hands she cleaned his wounds with peroxide.

John watched her face as her fingers touched the rope burn on his neck. Guilt and lots of it. "You didn't hang me. You cut me down."

"This is still my fault." Now finished tending his wounds, she rose to her feet. "The canned food is no good, but the dry stuff should be OK. Rice, powdered products, beans. And there's a lot of water that should be fine."

When she put a hand on the ladder he said, "Clarke? You saved my life twice today."

"I'm sorry I put it in danger in the first place." And she was gone.

* * *

Clarke went into camp through the back where the forest was dense and there were no prying eyes. The first person she ran into was Finn.

"Where'd you disappear to?"

"I had to drop something off at the art supply store."

They fell into step. "What did you have to drop off there?"

"Who do you have on the Ark? I mean you decided not to take your bracelet off, so what family or friends do you have?" She stopped when he did.

"My parents and um a friend. Why?"

"Tell me about them, what's your friend like?" Clarke sat down, so he did too.

"Raven? She's amazing, you'd like her. Strong and confidant. Loves space and walking in it." He cocked his head back and looked at the sky lightening. "What did you drop off at the art supply store?"

Clarke saw the look on his face and surmised that Raven was more than a friend. "Steer clear for a while. I'm using it as solitary at the moment. Until I can find something a bit farther away, but still habitable."

"Ah, Murphy. You know if the grounders get a hold of him, they'll know everything about us. Given what they did to Jasper, I don't think they'd be above torture. Good thinking."

"Exactly. Now if you don't mind, I've got to get some sleep before searching for a new place for him. He's too close to here, and I don't trust him to not try to stay in touch with some of his pals."

* * *

Murphy looked around the bunker, bored and in too much pain to get any sleep. He found the food she talked about and fiddled with the kitchenette until he figured out how to turn the stove on. Must be some kind of long term power source attached to everything in here. They had them on the Ark, but without maintenance, he was surprised everything still worked here.

The instructions to make rice seemed easy enough. Some water, some flame, wait and watch.

"Is this shit ever going to boil?" The water had been on for less than a minute at that point. "We never learned how to fucking cook. Out of all the Earth Skills they shoved down our throats, cooking wasn't one of them. I hate the fucking Ark! Hope they all suffocate, worthless idiots."

He tapped his foot as he watched the water do nothing. "If I weren't so damn hungry, I'd… I don't even know what. And I've been alone for less than twenty minutes and I'm already talking to myself. FUCK!"

He paced. He banged the other pots and pans together. He tried to eat a dried bean and hurt his teeth. He took out box after box, poking around looking for anything useful, and found plenty. "So Clarke's not as generous as she makes herself out to be."

He found clothes, bolts of fabric, a sewing machine, toothpaste, toothbrushes, mouthwash, an entire bin of floss, and dried fruit. Murphy risked hurting his teeth again and popped a dried strawberry in his mouth. Not only was it edible, but it was the best thing he'd ever put in his mouth. And finally the water boiled, and he made the rice, surprising himself by not burning it.

"Ooh this is good." He picked the rice up with his fingers and shoved it into his mouth barely chewing before swallowing. Despite the messiness of the food, he didn't drop a single grain.

He brushed his teeth right after, basking in the feeling of clean teeth for the first time since leaving the Ark.

"I think I might like banishment."


	2. Chapter 2

Two days of climbing the walls and afraid to leave the bunker, Murphy had explored everything there was to explore in its confines. The food was better than that crappy panther meat. And there was plenty of reading material. Books, magazines, old newspapers, but it was that morning when he found something interesting. It was an article about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. What if they could get there? They'd have to cross past the north pole, and build boats that could navigate glacier filled waters, but he was bored enough to try anything. And he had to face it, the supplies here wouldn't last very long in the grand scheme of things.

Murphy didn't have many talents, but he was good at one thing: cobbling things together to work in a pinch. The bunker's back room was filled with survival gear and raw materials. So he went about pulling things out of the bunker so he had room to work on his project. Boredom cured his fear of the others.

A generator helped him solder pieces of metal together. It was dusk when the failing light forced him to stop for the day. This had to be hidden, so he covered it with leaves and forest debris.

He'd just finished doing that when he caught sight of someone walking his way. The hair suggested it was Clarke. So he stood there, quiet and wary, until he knew for sure.

"Murphy, sorry it took me so long to get back here," Clarke nodded at him just before stepping on his project. "What's this?"

"I have a plan. Get inside and we'll talk about it."

"OK."

He followed her down. "Wow, you reek."

"No soap."

"I've got soap, and a makeshift shower. Toothpaste and brushes too." Murphy gestured to the blanket hanging in the corner. "If you need help figuring out how it works, I can show you."

Since she wasn't going back to camp, Clarke jumped at the chance. "Thank you." She gave it a lookover, and it was pretty self explanatory. She stood inside the blanket he had up and took her clothes off, tossing them away from where the water could reach.

Murphy listened to her squeal at the cold water, knowing she wouldn't be in there long. She was in there longer than he expected, but his first shower took him forever to wash the grime off.

"Towel?"

He got up and handed her the towel he'd used that morning. "I should get you clothes. You'll want to wait until the last possible second before putting the mud covered ones back on."

"Can we wash them?" She asked from behind the blanket.

"Mine still haven't dried and I washed them yesterday morning. Don't you have to get back to camp?"

"As a matter of fact, I'm not welcome there."

"Yeah? What did you get banished for?" he asked as he rooted around the clothing bin for her.

"Having the nerve to say we should leave the drop ship and move someplace more secure." Her teeth chattered. "Find anything yet?"

"Here." He reached a handful of clothes into her.

The jeans were a bit big, but they were durable. The flannel shirt and cotton tee were comfortable and warm. When she stepped out from behind the curtain, he handed her a pair of thick socks. "Thank you."

"Stop thanking me. I didn't do anything."

She shrugged as she sat and put the socks on. "So what was that up top?"

"I'm working on something." He grabbed the magazine with the Svalbard article and tossed in on the coffee table. "There's this place, so far north you're going south again, but it's called the Global Seed Vault. I was making a boat."

Clarke picked the magazine up and skimmed the article. "We could die trying to get there." She sighed and met his gaze. "I'm in."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that." She stretched and yawned. "I'll help get us ready starting in the morning. Right now, I need sleep."

"I took the top bunk."

* * *

Working together it took them a week to finish the boat. When the test proved that it would float even after taking a beating, they turned their attention to what they would need to take with them that would best see to their survival. They didn't talk about anything personal, or much at all. She tended to his healing wounds. He cooked for them. They'd built a working relationship, but that's as far as it went. They were packing it in for the night when Finn walked up. "Hey, guys."

"They kick you out too?" Murphy snarked.

"No. I came to check on you." Finn was staring at Clarke, who couldn't look him in the face.

"I should probably leave the lovebirds alone." Murphy moved toward the bunker opening, but Clarke caught his arm.

"Don't."

"OK. Trouble in paradise?"

"Finn, you need to leave." Clarke's jaw twitched.

Murphy studied Clarke for a sign as to what was wrong, but other than her being upset, he couldn't pin it down further. He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Collins. "You heard her."

"Clarke, please." Finn reached out to her but she flinched away. Murphy lost his temper and shoved Finn. If there was anything else that Murphy had a talent for, it was taking a punch. So when Finn punched him, he didn't flinch.

"That all you got?" Murphy sneered as he punched back, nailing Finn in the nose. Blood spurt from Collins' nostrils and the skin at the bridge split. It was enough for Finn to back off, but Murphy had too much pent up anger and kept attacking. Blinded by his rage, it took Clarke pulling him off a bleeding and broken Finn, for him to notice the amount of damage he'd done, not that he cared outside the boost to his pride. Why had he ever backed down from this schmuck?

John expected Clarke to check on Finn, but instead she took his hands and examined them. "You busted a couple knuckles open. Let's get inside and clean them. We can't afford an infection."

"Well, they tell ya, 'Never hit a man with a closed fist.' But it is, on occasion, hilarious."

"If you say so," Clarke said as she shook her head.

"It's a quote. Firefly?"

"You watched that? We lived in space, and you watched a show about living in space?"

"They had more fun with it. You going to do something about him?" Murphy jerked his head toward Finn, who was laying on the ground moaning.

"Only because I don't want him sending the others here to lynch us. We're not ready to leave yet." Clarke rubbed her forehead. "Go wash your hands. Clean those cuts real well. I'll be down when I can."


	3. Chapter 3

"OK fine," Clarke said as she threw her hands in the air. "When do we start training?"

"Now. We spent our entire lives on a spacestation. And while the genetic engineering will help, it needs some help." Murphy smirked at her.

"I said yes already. This is going to be a tough enough trip if we're in top shape. We'll die if we leave right now. We aren't going to just need muscle, we're going to need fat too. Insulation from the freezing temperatures we'll be facing up north. And callouses to save our hands and feet from the beating we'll be giving them."

"I guess I didn't make that big speech did I?"

"No."

Murphy shrugged. "Should we start with a jog?"

"Sure. Lead the way, in the opposite direction of the dropship."

* * *

A month had gone by and the summer faded to autumn. Clarke could carry Murphy and vice versa for over two miles at a clip. Their feet stopped hurting even after forty eight hours on their feet. They were able to scale down and up the cliff face without gear.

They were walking along the river at the bottom of the cliff when they found the half eaten and decayed body of Charlotte. Her hair is how they identified her. Clarke used her folding shovel to start digging a grave, while Murphy fell on his ass next to the body. They hadn't talked to each other unless it was related to surviving in days.

Tears slid down his cheeks. "I was so angry. I didn't think. I didn't even think about what I would do to her when I got my hands on her. I've been asking what if in my head over and over since that night and never came up with a realistic solution. A way I could have and would have acted differently."

Clarke stopped digging. "There's plenty of blame to go around."

"I swear if I ever see the bastards that hung me up again, they'll regret ever touching me." Murphy stood up and unfolded his shovel. "I'm not sure if our digging her grave is respectful or disrespectful."

They didn't talk again until after Charlotte was buried. Then it was a simple, "May we meet again," from each of them.

They climbed back up the cliff face with full packs on their backs and no gear. Once at the top, Clarke let out a huff. "That used to suck. Now I feel great."

"Yeah. Let's get back to the bunker. We need to do some weapons training."

"I've gotten good at the archery. Killed that lion that came after us didn't I?" Clarke pulled her bow from its clip on the side of her pack. Then a handful of arrows. "Who do you think is catching dinner tonight?"

Murphy gripped his spear. "My guess is you, but I'm still gonna try."

A twig snapped behind them and Clarke stopped before killing the person. "Octavia! What the hell?"

Octavia was dressed in full grounder gear complete with war paint. "I came to ask for your help. Lincoln says the two of you have gotten scary good at defending yourselves. Bellamy pissed off the commander and now the entire grounder army is going after skiakru, sky people, if they don't turn him over to the commander to be tortured to death. I have to save him without starting a war."

"Lincoln's the grounder that's been following us around?" Murphy asked.

"He is." Octavia stepped closer to her two banished expatriots. "Please. Clarke things have gone downhill since Bellamy kicked you out. We don't have a doctor, the Ark is dead, our engineer was injured, and Bellamy's willing to let her die rather than ask you for help. Please, come back with me. Save Raven, help me save everyone."

"I'll come back on one condition."

"Name it."

"You and your Lincoln join us on our expedition. We could use the extra hands."

"I'll ask where we're going later. But we need to get to the dropship before Bellamy screws up anything else."

"How bad's Raven?" Clarke asked as she fell into step with Octavia, Murphy on their heels.

"She took an arrow to the leg, but we can't get the bleeding to stop. Lincoln gave her something that slowed it, but there's still a trickle, and she's out cold."

"We need to hurry." Clarke and the other two took off at a run.

When the got to camp Clarke and Murphy were met with a group of angry teenagers and one super pissed of off Bellamy. Clarke spoke first. "We'll leave as soon as we clean up your mess. But Raven will die if I don't stop the bleeding. And you need to make peace with the grounders."

Octavia saw her brother's jaw tick. "Bell, please. We need to fix this. Let her help us fix this."

"Fine. But then her and her kept boy are gone again." Bellamy sneered at Murphy.

Clarke put her arm out to stop Murphy from attacking Bellamy. "We won't be here long."

"Fine. Then let's get a move on it." Murphy's rage was pouring out of every inch of him.

"Raven's this way." Octavia led Clarke and Murphy into the dropship.

"So this is Finn's girlfriend?" Clarke smirked to keep her nerves in check. Raven was awake and sighed in relief at Clarke's comment. If the doctor was joking then it wasn't that bad.

"You must be Clarke." Raven tried to sit up but Clarke put a hand on her chest.

"Stay still." Clarke ripped Raven's pant leg open to get a better look at the gash. "Who took the arrow out?"

"Why?" Octavia asked.

"So I can bitch them out later." Clarke probed the wound just above Raven's knee with gentle calloused fingers. "This is a mess. Broadhead?"

"Yeah." Raven sucked in a lungful of air as Clarke's inspection sent lightening bolts of pain up and down her leg.

"I can fix this but you won't regain full use of this leg. But the only other option is amputation, so Murphy get the kit out." Clarke poured water from her canteen over the wound. Then checked the tourniquet and pulse in the ankle. They had less than hour if she wanted to save Raven's leg. "Scalpel."

Murphy handed her the instrument and watched Clarke debride the wound. Several scraps of flesh were cut away and tossed aside. "Sutures." He offered her what he knew she'd need next. Physical training wasn't the only kind of training they'd been doing the last month.

Clarke sewed together what she could while Raven periodically screamed until she passed out. "Glue."

Murphy handed her the glue. They had precious little of it, but he kept his mouth shut. When the wound was closed and no longer life threatening, Murphy let out a breath. "Good job."

"Get her some of that seaweed tea we used on Jasper and she'll be fine." Clarke got up as she wiped the blood on her pants. "Next step, save the world."

"And how do you propose we do that?" Murphy asked.

"Anya." Clarke had made a deal with the grounder tribe leader to ensure her and Murphy's continued survival. She worked as the tribe's healer and started training another. They couldn't leave until the new healer had been suitably trained, but while they were here, Murphy and Clarke were free to roam and come and go as they pleased.

"She does like you."

"And the commander was her second. She can set up an audience for us." Clarke walked out of the dropship and Bellamy stood in the way of them leaving camp. Clarke stopped Murphy from attacking again. "Bellamy, you screwed up. I got Anya to tolerate your existence but you had to go and piss off the commander? I'll try to get you out of it, but you're going to have to give up the skaikru's autonomy."

"Skaikru? What the hell is that?" Bellamy's anger spit out the words.

"Sky people." Murphy said with barely contained rage.

"I'm not turning my people over to them." Bellamy pointed at the ground as if that finalized his statement and made it truth.

"I'm only going to say this once, so pay attention." Clarke got into Bellamy's face. "The Ark is dead, you saw to that. There's no one coming to help you after this. There aren't enough of you left to take over a single grounder let alone an entire army of them. If you want to survive, you have to stop fighting them. You have to join them. And right now you better hope that they still want you. Killing the commander's second was a bad idea."

"And what do you know about it?" Bellamy asked leaning down so their noses were almost touching.

"Murphy?"

"Yeah, Clarke?"

"Let's get out of here. Octavia? Talk to the remaining skaikru. See if they won't overthrow their leader in order to survive."

"On it, Clarke." Octavia pivoted and started talking to a crowd near the big fire pit.


	4. Chapter 4

Clarke, talking in broken Trigedasleng, asked Anya to set up an audience with the commander.

"Follow me." Anya led Clarke and Murphy to a large tent outside of the village. "Wait here while I ask her to see you."

Murphy and Clarke waited for almost an hour before Anya came back out. "Well?"

"She'll see you. But tread carefully, she's in a bad mood." Anya put her hand on Clarke's shoulder. "Good luck."

"Thank you, Anya. And Murphy wait out here."

"Yeah, sure, whatever." He knew better than to argue with her. When it came to grounder relations she'd never steered them wrong. He trusted her even if he still had no idea who she was under that determined exterior.

Clarke ducked inside the tent and saw a woman not any older than herself sitting on a throne made of twisting wood. She twirled a knife in her hand with expertise. "Commander Lexa, I'm Clarke of the skaikru and I was hoping we could talk."

"In English," the commander said. "You're butchering my language."

"OK."

"Anya says that you're an excellent healer. That your protégé is close to being just as skilled, which means you are also a good teacher."

"Hington is an excellent student. She's a fast learner." Clarke stepped closer. "I wanted to talk to you about the rest of the skaikru. I'm hoping we can live in peace."

"What do you propose exactly?" Lexa asked as she set the knife in her lap.

"I'll be leaving soon, with my associate Murphy, Octavia and Lincoln on a mission to bring back agriculture. There's a vault a long way from here, and the trip will be dangerous, but it has seeds and instructions on how to grow them. If we succeed we can grow our own food. If I agreed to take Bellamy with us, and bring back those seeds back here rather than settling elsewhere, would you agree to a truce?"

"And if you die trying to do this?"

"Then you've gained more citizens to diversify your lineages and lost nothing."

"Your people were fools to banish you. Tell them to lie down their arms. We'll come for them in the morning. If no one resists, you've gotten your peace. I also expect you to leave on this mission within the week." Lexa paused and narrowed her eyes. "If Bellamy is among them, then he dies and there will only be four of you going for the seeds, but you will still get your peace."

"Thank you, commander. While we're here, let's talk about the Mountain Men..."

* * *

"He pissed himself and it's stinking up the place!" Murphy fumed as Bellamy sat tied to a chair in a corner of the bunker. "Clarke, how long is this going to go on?"

"We have two more days to get our supplies together and leave. If we can't convince Bellamy to come with us, we kill him."

"I've been wanting to do that for days."

"Murphy, don't be a dick. I've got one last ace up my sleeve." Clarke knelt in front of Bellamy. "You know Octavia's coming with us. Already told you that. But if you don't come with us, I'll let Murphy kill you, and your sister won't have you to protect her on a journey that's just this side of certain death. Now I'm going to take the gag out and if I hear anything other than yes come out of your mouth, I'm handing you over to Murphy. So are you coming with us?" She removed the gag.

"Yes."

Clarke untied him. "Good. Now clean up your mess."

* * *

"The trigedaskru are migrating out of the acid fog zone." Clarke tied her boots then checked her pack one last time.

"They shoulda done that a long time ago." Murphy zipped up his pack and slung it over his shoulder.

Lincoln tied his bag across his chest while Octavia pulled her hair up. "Why should they be forced to leave their home?"

"You said the Mountain Men kidnap people, turn them into Reapers and kill them." Clarke counted the water bottles. "They're doing that for a reason. And since they have missile capabilities and could wipe the trigedaskru out, I'd say that the reason has to be horrific."

"You talked them into leaving." Lincoln met Clarke's stern expression.

"If the Mountain Men are kidnapping Tree People then they need them. I think if their supply of grounders runs out, they'll either die off or make a mistake that will destroy them." Clarke shrugged.

"I agree with the Commander. Your people were fools for banishing you." Lincoln clapped a hand on Clarke's shoulder before climbing the ladder out of the bunker.

"You're quiet big brother," Octavia said as she tied her machete to her belt.

"Murphy and Clarke get pissed when I say anything." Bellamy double checked his supplies.

John snorted as he put a foot on the ladder. "That's because you say the dumbest shit." Then he hoisted himself up.

Octavia stood up straight and looked her brother in the eye. "This is a dangerous journey, Bell. If you want them to save you, you might consider not making them angry every chance you get."

"Whatever." Bellamy put his hand on a rung. "Let's just let the cards fall where they fall."

The remaining members of the expedition climbed out of the bunker. Clarke agreed to be the first one to pull the boat and put on the harness. Murphy pocketed the compass. "Like we planned. We go straight through the lower half and across the bridge, through the village and into the upper half."

"The Dead Zone will likely be the only desert we need to navigate, but it'll take several days to a week to get across it. That's if we don't stop for anything other than short rests," Lincoln reminded the group.

"Let's do this," Octavia said as she marched off in the lead with him. They followed the plan and as they walked through Anya's village the clan eyed the group with a mix of wariness and pride. The five of them said nothing, not even when they passed a group of dropship kids. Monty tried to say something but couldn't find words. Finn and Raven watched with long faces as they passed.

By nightfall they'd reached the Dead Zone.


End file.
